Delta Belle Rice

When we created our vegan Red Beans and Rice recipe, the one thing we were missing was a true Mississippi Delta long grain white rice. We found our perfect ingredient in Two Brooks Farm which has taken up the mantle from their friend and neighbor, the famed Delta Blues Rice which is no longer available. With a buttery, sweet flavor and a springy chew, it is the most delicious long grain white rice we've ever tasted. Perhaps it's the rich mineral content of the bayou soil at Two Brooks Farm that makes it exceptional. Maybe it's their regenerative practices or the Non-GMO seeds they sow on the family farm that make it special.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF RICE IN THE US

Rice was first grown in the US in the Low Country of South Carolina and Northern Georgia. Carolina Gold Rice was brought to the US from Africa and cultivated by enslaved people. This distinct rice became the staple of regional dishes like Hoppin' John. After rice farming became industrialized rice production moved to the Delta region and new varieties of long grain rice were favored. In California, short grain rice from Japan became an essential ingredient for the region used by the large Japanese American population.

HOW TO USE IT

Delta style long grain rice is traditional in Mississippi and Louisiana dishes ranging from étouffée to jambalaya. 

ABOUT THE FARMERS

Two Brooks Rice is the product of years of reflection on our food production systems and how those impact our natural world. As a 10th generation farming family, Lawrence, Abbey and Sarah live and farm on the bayou in the most charming of Mississippi’s small towns-- Sumner. Theirs is a farm that lives in harmony with nature, giving back more than it takes. They practice no-till farming, they use no pesticides and they capture rain water and runoff to conserve our water resources.  “Years ago, after watching the overwintering waterfowl population explode, and the benefits they give to the land, after watching the eagles roost around, after watching the deer population go up, I started thinking about what I was doing. I started thinking about the soil microbiology and biology. How, by the fact that we had curtailed tillage and allowed waterfowl to do the tillage, we were beginning to rebuild the soil structure with naturally living organisms that enhance the rice plants health, and require far fewer synthetic inputs (to this day I use no insecticides or fungicides).”